—– The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed higher as investors reacted to the signal that inflation in the US may have peaked. This has helped allay fears that the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) will raise interest rates more quickly.
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 32,196.66, up 466.36, or +1.47%.
- The S&P 500 closed at 4,023.89, up 93.81, or +2.39%.
- The Nasdaq closed at 11,805.00, up 434.04, or +3.82%.
—– Crude oil futures closed higher. This development was triggered by concerns about the ongoing tightening of oil supplies on the world market.
- WTI crude futures rose $4.36, or 4.1%, at $110.49 a barrel. and rose 0.7% this week.
- BRENT crude futures were up $4.1, or 3.8%, at $111.55 a barrel, but were down 0.7% for the week.
—– New York gold futures closed at a 14-week low, weighed down by rising US Treasury yields and a strong USDX.
- Gold fell $16.4, or 0.9%, at $1,808.20 an ounce, and was down 3.9% for the week. This was the biggest weekly drop since June 18 last year.
- Silver futures were up 22.8 cents, or 1.1%, at $21.001 an ounce.
- The platinum contract was down $0.7, or 0.08%, at $930.7/ounce.
- The palladium futures were up $57.10, or 3.1%, at $1,917.70 an ounce.
—– The U.S. dollar weakens against major currencies in the currency basket as investors sell the greenback following the release of weak U.S. economic data.
- The dollar index against the six major currencies in a basket of currencies was down 0.28% at 104.5620.
- The US dollar weakened against the Swiss franc at 1.0026 francs from 1.0045 francs.
- The dollar was lower against the Canadian dollar to 1.2932 Canadian dollars from 1.3070 Canadian dollars.
- The dollar strengthened against the yen at 129.30 yen from 128.12 yen.
- The euro was higher against the US dollar at $1.0407 from $1.0370.
- The pound rose to $1.2242 from $1.2174.
- The Australian dollar rose to $0.6923 from $0.6831.
- The baht hit a five-year low at 34.79 baht per dollar, with the baht depreciating like most Asian currencies.